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With a win in Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team moved one step closer to its goal of winning a record-tying seventh championship in NASCAR's premier series this season.

Kevin Harvick is one of six Sprint Cup Series regulars scheduled to compete in the Xfinity race at Atlanta. Sam Hornish Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, the reigning Daytona 500 champion, and Paul Menard are the others.

Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano won the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway after a qualifying session in which 13 drivers didn't get on the track after failing to pass inspection.

NASCCAR made significant rule changes for the Sprint Cup cars this season, including lower horsepower and modifications to the cars' aerodynamic package. The horsepower was reduced from 850 to 725 through a tapered spacer, which is an engine part used in the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series. Revisions to the aero package include: rear spoiler adjustments to 6 inches high (2014 height: 8 inches) and minimum vehicle weight drops 50 lbs. via ballast reduction (2014 weight: 3,300 lbs. without driver).

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch was released from a North Carolina hospital on Friday, six days after he suffered multiple injuries during an accident in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Joe Gibbs Racing announced on Tuesday that David Ragan will drive the No. 18 Toyota in place of the injured Kyle Busch for the next several Sprint Cup Series races, beginning with this weekend's 500-mile event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kyle Busch has been released from Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Fla. and transferred to a North Carolina hospital where he will continue treatment for injuries he suffered during a crash last Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Team owner Joe Gibbs said on Sunday that he is unsure when driver Kyle Busch will return to racing after he suffered multiple injuries during an accident in Saturday's Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Kyle Busch will miss the Daytona 500 and more Sprint Cup Series races following that after he suffered multiple injuries during a multi-car accident in the closing laps of Saturday's 300- mile Xfinity Series event at Daytona International Speedway.

Sprint Cup Series driver Kurt Busch lost his initial appeal to be reinstated after NASCAR suspended him indefinitely on Friday due to a Delaware court ruling that he committed an act of domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll.

Last month, Gordon announced that 2015 will be his last year as a full-time driver in the Sprint Cup Series. The 43-year-old Gordon had hinted at the possibility of competing in some races during the 2016 season, including the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, a race he won for a record-fifth time in 2014, but on Thursday, he said that it would be "highly unlikely" he'll race in Sprint Cup next year. Gordon does plan to be at racetracks next season for tributes and fan interactions.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin will have to start from the rear of the field in their respective Budweiser Duel qualifying races after both drivers had their cars fail Sunday's post- qualifying inspection for the Daytona 500.

Jeff Gordon will start on the pole for his final Daytona 500 after winning Sunday's qualifying, which featured NASCAR's group qualifying format for the first time in the 57-year history of this prestigious race.

For the first time in the 57-year history of the Daytona 500, NASCAR will use its group qualifying format to set the front row positions for the race and determine the starting lineups for the Budweiser Duel twin-qualifying events.

As part of its new rules package for this season, NASCAR banned all private test sessions as a cost-cutting measure. That included the elimination of "Preseason Thunder" testing at Daytona, which had been held in the middle of January in past years.

After three months of no on-track activity thanks to NASCAR's testing ban, the 2015 Sprint Cup Series season is set to begin, as drivers and teams are eager to get back to racing this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.